TTP - Reclaiming the Mind Seminars

Michael Patton and Rhome Dyck, teachers of The Theology Program and speakers of Theology Unplugged, are available for speaking engagements for churches and other Christian organizations.

Topics:

“Reclaiming the Christian Mind”: This is a two to three hour seminar designed for a Friday night or Saturday morning. The purpose of this lesson is to convince the church of the vital role the intellectual life plays in the Christian’s worldview. We will discuss how, when, and why the church lost the intellectual effectiveness in the culture and how we are to reclaim our place in the marketplace of ideas.

“Gaining Theological Integrity”: This is a five hour seminar designed for Friday night (7pm-9pm) and Saturday morning (9am-12pm). The purpose here is to walk people through essential elements of thinking theologically. In essence, it is a mini version of The Theology Program’s Introduction to Theology course offered through bible.org. We will cover topics such as “Who is a Theologian,” “What is the Theological Process,” “Postmodernism,” and “How does a Christian come to know truth?”

Two-day Courses: This is a ten hour presentation of an entire course of The Theology Program. This would take place on Friday night (7pm-9pm) and all day Saturday (8am-5pm). Any of the courses can be chosen, but it is suggested that you follow in the order suggested by the course chart. Churches may want to book two or three seminars per year and complete the entire program in two or three years.

Individual 2 hour Seminars:

Understanding Worldviews: This session will introduce the audience to the vital issue of worldviews. Emphasis will be made on the distinction between a Christian theistic worldview as compared to naturalism (atheism), deism, pantheism, polytheism, and others. We test each worldview to see if it can stand up to the scrutiny of logic and practicality. The conclusion: the biblical worldview is the only true contender for truth.

Engaging Postmoderns: How do we represent Christ to a world that has labeled Christianity as arrogant, exclusive, and irrelevant? What do Christians do when the culture is denying the very existence of truth? Our culture is undergoing a paradigm shift in the way people think that rivals the Enlightenment and the most people are either completely unaware or just don't know how to respond. Do we bury our head in the sand or do we engage this culture for Christ? This seminar is devoted to informing people of the promises and perils of postmodernism, giving them basic principles on how to respond to this emerging culture.

Evidences for Inspiration: How can we know that the Scriptures alone are inspired? What about other religions? Don't they have books that claim to be inspired? Is there any way to verify that God wrote the Bible? Important questions that most Christians are not prepared to answer. Most would just give an honest but insufficient answer, "I believe because the Holy Spirit convicts me to believe." Upon completion of this seminar, the listener will have been exposed to a strong logical defense for the evangelical understanding that the Christian Scriptures alone are the word of God.

A Theology of the Sexes: Can women teach? Can women preach? Can a woman hold the office of pastor? Or are they to stay silent in the churches? How about the home? What is the role of each sex? There are not many issues in contemporary church settings that are more intensely debated than the role of men and women in the church. These issues will be looked at with a balanced perspective, understanding that there are good scholars on both sides of the debate who strongly disagree. By the end of this session, listeners should understand why each side believes the way they do. They should also have a greater appreciation for the complementary diversity that God created men and women with. This presentation is confessingly complementarian, believing that only a complementarian worldview accurately reflects the biblical picture and give practical hope for a balanced home and society.

How we got the Bible: How do we know that the Bible that we have is the same as when it was originally written? Did the scribes ever make mistakes in copying the text? If so, can we really trust the Bible? What about the canon of Scripture? How do we know we have the right books? What about the Apocrypha? Upon completion of this lesson, the listener will have a better understanding of the process and history of biblical transmission and canonization. They should leave with a great confidence that the Bible we have today is completely trustworthy, being handed to us through the providential care of God.

Michael Patton is the director and teacher of The Theology Program (TTP). He holds a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and an ordination from Stonebriar Community Church. TTP Instructors are Michael Patton, Th.M. and Rhome Dyck, Th.M. The Theology Program is copyrighted and published by Reclaim... More